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Daily Recovery Readings Start your day here with Daily Recovery Readings. Feel Free To Share Your Experience, Strength & Hope.

 
 
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Old 05-02-2016, 07:43 AM   #2
bluidkiti
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May 2

Step by Step

Today, if I have made sincere amends to those I wronged "except when to do so would hurt" them, I must progress beyond regret, shame and anger to what may be my single strongest and most meaningful amend: committing myself to sobriety and recovery. For all I might have said or done as an alcoholic and now sober, I cannot become the proverbial doormat and let anyone or anything hammer me for the mistakes I have tried to correct, especially by those who cannot or will not accept my apologies. I can allow a margin of regret that I may not be forgiven by all I have hurt, but I cannot afford to be kicked down repeatedly. Today, if I have been rebuffed or cannot make amends because doing so might lead to more damage, I can find reconciliation in being sober. And our common journey continues. Step by step. - Chris M.

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~ EASY DOES IT ~ (A Book of Daily 12 Step Meditations) ~

FRIENDSHIP

Friendship of a kind that cannot easily be reversed tomorrow must have its roots in common interests and shared belief.

~ Barbara W. Tuchman ~

We find the meaning of friendship in our Fellowship. We no longer take hostages or allow ourselves to be hostages. We give and take freely in a spirit of good-natured affection. The friendship we find in our Program is one where hidden agendas are left at the door. We relate to one another as human beings and fellow travelers. We leave sharp jealous attitudes in our old life, where they belong.

We are careful to honor each individual. We remember that every person we meet has something to teach us. When we extend our hand to a person who is still suffering, we do not forget that it wasn’t so long ago someone extended a hand to us.

I find myself able to become friends with individuals I disliked at one time. They may not have changed, but I most certainly have. The world in general has become a much friendlier place.

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~ WISDOM TO KNOW ~ (More Daily Meditations For Men) ~

If you come to a fork in the road, take it.

~ Yogi Berra ~

The humor in this quotation points to some deeper wisdom. The fact is, we all come to forks in the road of life, and we have to choose which way to go. Sometimes we cannot see a clear best choice. Sometimes we know what the best choice would be, but we cannot face the losses or the pain it would entail. Many of us have stopped at the fork in the road and just sat there for a long, long time, refusing to take either way.

The healthy, creative, constructive life requires some risk taking. Even when we are not sure which is the best way to go, it may be better to try one of them than to just stay stuck. Certainly it is wise to stop, consider our choices, and not be too hasty or impulsive. But after we think and weigh the options, making a choice will lead to new information, which will then influence our next choices. That is how we follow a creative and lively path for ourselves.

Today I will remember that some risk taking is healthy.

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~ A WOMAN’S SPIRIT ~ (More Meditations For Women) ~

One of the many blessings or opportunities my recovery gives me is the realization that there is a bus out of the old neighborhood.

~ Elizabeth Farrell ~

Today we have many opportunities to chart a new course in our behavior. We don’t have to keep feeling inadequate or anxious. We can decide to change how we act toward other people and how we respond to the unexpected. It’s our choice.

There is great hope and promise in knowing how personally responsible we are for our actions and, thus, our successes. There is even greater hope in knowing that we can feel as peaceful as we make up our minds to feel. With our Higher Power’s help, we are in charge of the way we see the events in our lives. And with that help we are in charge of how we maneuver through the moments of every day. What lucky women we are! Never again will we be at the mercy of our obsessive feelings. And never again will life be any more difficult than we decide to let it be. With the help of each other, our Higher Power, and our willingness to change, we will know a new freedom.

I can hop on the bus of change at any stop throughout the day. And it’s a free ride to serenity!

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~ TODAY I WILL DO ONE THING ~ (Daily Readings for Awareness and Hope) ~

I know I have a problem with alcohol

I could accept the fact that I had a psychiatric illness and I was able to manage it (I took my medication as prescribed). But I didn’t agree I had an addiction. When I drank, I usually had just one, because I thought I knew my limit. Alcohol seemed to affect me little. I wanted people to just leave me alone about this.

But once I thought about it, I realized it had become harder to stop at “just one.” Then it became harder to stop at two−especially the nights I got drunk. I was feeling more tense and irritable, and I found myself thinking about drinking more and more. Fortunately, my doctor suggested that alcohol was probably affecting me more than I realized. I’m glad I listened to her and got help before my addiction progressed further.

I will call my doctor, therapist, or sponsor when I still have doubts about drinking.

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~ BODY, MIND, AND SPIRIT ~ (Inspiration and Support for Recovery) ~

It was the turtle who won the race, you know.

~ Jessica S. ~

In early recovery, we can get so excited about change that we want to change everything in our lives, often radically, and we want to do it right now.

That impulse can be self-defeating. It took a long time, sometimes years, to progress in addiction; it will take time to make progress in recovery, too. We need to look for small, slow changes rather than big, dramatic ones. And if we look closely we can already see results.

Are we sleeping better? Feeling physically stronger? Have we gotten medical care, if we needed it? Has our nervous system settled down? Are we feeling less jangled, more calm? Are we able to concentrate better? Have we lessened our fear and anxiety? Do we feel more at home in the world? Have we found a Higher Power to share our lives? Do we feel a kinship with other people? Do we feel more serene in our relationships?

If the answer to any of these is “yes,” we’ve already made measurable progress in our recovery. The rest will come with time. As the tortoise showed us, slow and easy wins the race.

Today help me to rejoice in small victories. Let me be satisfied with small successes.

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~ MORNING LIGHT ~ (Meditations to Begin Your Day) ~

When the way comes to an end, then change—having changed, you pass through.

~ I Ching ~

A Zen parable relates the story of a young monk who enters the monastery. Eager to begin his new life so he can attain spiritual fulfillment, he asks the head monk to provide him with some guidance. The head monk asks, “Have you eaten your breakfast?” “Yes, I have,” the young monk replies, to which the head monk says, “Then go wash your bowl.”

Fulfillment can be thought of as the outcome of executing something in a way that brings closure to it. With such fulfillment comes a sense of achievement that helps build self-confidence and facilitate change.

When the young monk is told to eat breakfast and wash his bowl, he leams that spiritual fulfillment is something that will not be attained immediately or may never even reach a point of completion. Fulfillment is ongoing and something he must tend to each day. Your recovery can be seen in much the same way. One form of fulfillment comes when you have reached the end of a day in which you have remained free from your habit. Another comes when you do the work required in the Steps.

Each morning I renew my energy and seek fulfillment through the program, then reflect upon my accomplishments at the end of the day.

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~ NIGHT LIGHT ~ (A Book Of Nighttime Meditations) ~

Weigh thy words in a balance, and make a door and bar for thy mouth.

~ Old Testament Apocrypha ~

What we say can hurt or heal. We may look back at times and wish we hadn't said something to someone. Perhaps we can see the hurt we caused by harsh or insulting words. We may be able to recall a snide or impatient comment delivered to an unsuspecting stranger or friend. Words can be powerful weapons.

By the same token, we may be able to recall when someone said, "Thanks, I really liked what you said to me. It helped." We may have made someone laugh or smile despite tears, or we may have been able to point out a different viewpoint to someone blinded by rage or impatience. Words can be powerful healers.

Freedom of speech doesn't mean we can say anything we want whenever we want. Communication is an action that requires responsibility. Abuse of speech can lead to angry confrontations, severed relationships, and isolation. The responsible use of our gift of speech can lead to healthy relationships and positive emotions. We can listen to ourselves and learn whether our voice helps or hurts.

My words can hurt or heal. Which will I choose?

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~ DAY BY DAY ~ (Daily Meditations for Recovering Addicts) ~

Helping others

We have been given so much help in our ad-diction through countless other people who have searched for a solution. If others hadn’t searched and found, who would have been there to offer us a helping hand? The ones who come after us can help us best by letting us help them.

Newcomers are a constant reminder and source of joy to us. We’re on this path together, and we should never forget to be grateful for our fellow addicts.

Do I help others?

Higher Power, help me always to be grateful to the ones who have helped me, and help me offer my hand to others.

Today I will help my fellow addicts by

God help me to stay clean and sober today!

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~ IF YOU WANT WHAT WE HAVE ~ (Sponsorship Meditations) ~

One never notices what has been done; one can only see what remains to be done.

~ MARIE CURIE ~

Newcomer

You seem so tolerant, so easygoing. You’re always telling me to relax. Shouldn’t you be tougher on me?

Sponsor

Why are we so hard on ourselves, so impatient, so dissatisfied with the ongoing miracle of our recovery?

In our hearts, we don’t believe in the effectiveness of going through a gradual process over time; that’s not how we learned to do things in our lives of active addiction. Consuming an addictive substance or acting out a compulsion had an almost instantaneous effect. We grew accustomed to making things happen that fast, and today we may think that if things take time, we’re somehow defective. Perhaps we’ve had little experience of practicing something on a regular basis, without forcing results. Work and effort; gentleness, relaxation, rest—all these are necessary parts of the same process.

Today, I’m satisfied with who I am, what I have, what I do.

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~ THE EYE OPENER ~

The United Nations and the old League of Nations both recognized the fact that man’s conquest of time and space has brought the nations of the earth into such close and intimate relationship that national problems are now world problems and must be dealt with accordingly.

Their lack of success, up to the present time, stems from their inability to recognize the common Fatherhood of God and the inherent brotherhood of man. They attempt to settle world affairs without consulting the Power that made both the world and the men in it.

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~ The 12 STEP PRAYER BOOK ~ (A Collection of Favorite 12 Step Prayers and Inspirational Readings) ~

LIVING THE WAY WE PRAY

I knelt to pray when day was done
And prayed: “O Lord, bless everyone,
And lift from each heart the pain,
And let the sick be well again.”

And then the next day when I did awake,
I carelessly went on my way.
The whole day long I did not try
To wipe a tear from my eye.

I did not try to share the load
Of any Brother on the road.
I did not even go to see
The sick man just next door to me.

Yet once again when day was done
I prayed: “O Lord, bless everyone.”
But as I prayed, to my ear
There came a voice that whispered clear:

“Pause, hypocrite, before you pray:
Whom have you tried to bless today?
God’s sweetest blessings always go
By hands that serve Him here below.”

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~ AROUND THE YEAR WITH EMMET FOX ~ (A Book of Daily Readings) ~

DISCIPLINED SPEECH

Read Matthew 5:33−37

Again, ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, Thou shall not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths:

But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil (Matthew 5:33, 5:37).

Swear not at all, is one of the cardinal points of the teaching of Jesus. It means, briefly, that you are not to mortgage your future conduct in advance; to seek to fix your conduct or your belief for tomorrow while it is yet today. Rather you are constantly to keep yourself an open channel for the pouring out of the Holy Spirit into manifestation through you.

Of course, Jesus does not mean that you are not to enter into ordinary business engagements. Nor does he mean that the only ordinary oath administered in a court of law is inadmissible. These things a are matters of legal convenience. The Sermon on the Mount is a treatise on the spiritual life, for the spiritual life controls all the rest.

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~ A DEEP BREATH OF LIFE ~ (365 Daily Inspirations for Heart-Centered Living) ~

Lord of Your Kingdom

Make your life a mission, not an intermission.

~ Arnold Glasgow ~

One of my favorite literary characters is the beloved Don Quixote, Man of La Mancha, brought to life by Miguel de Cervantes. Through worldly eyes, Don Quixote appears to be a foolish itinerant, but his spiritual vision reveals him to be a knight on a mission to bring truth, love, and purity to a dismal world. He vanquishes a windmill he fancies to be a fire-breathing dragon; he ceremoniously dons an old brass shaving bowl as "The Golden Helmet of Umbrino”; when he meets the town harlot, Aldonza, he gives her his handkerchief and humbly adores her as Dulcinea, “The Sweet One.” Aldonza laughs in his face and jabs, “I am no Dulcinea, you fool—I am a ****!”

Don Quixote objects, “No, my lady, you mustn't speak that way about yourself; you are my lady Dulcinea, and I your knight, the Lord of La Mancha.”

Like many visionaries, Don Quixote poses a threat to those who believe in worldly power, and his foes devise a plot to break him of his delusions. They capture him in a room of mirrors and convince him that he is not a knight, but a fool. They succeed in breaking his spirit, and he becomes ill and despondent.

In the final scene of the play, Don Quixote lies weakly in a dungeon after he has been convicted of heresy and sentenced to death. There Aldonza and Don Quixote’s sidekick, Sancho, visit him and try to remind him of his quest. “I know of no quest,” he retorts sharply.

Aldonza takes his hand and kisses it. “Don’t you remember?” she asks. “You are the Lord of La Mancha, and I your Lady Dulcinea!”

A light begins to gleam in Don Quizote’s eyes, and soon he reclaims his quest. “Sancho, get my armor!” he commands, and sings the classic song, The Impossible Dream. As the guards call Don Quixote to his execution, it is clear that although they may annihilate his body, his spirit has triumphed.

Give me the strength to believe in my quest and live it.

My visions are given to me by God. I will live my dreams.

Alan Cohen 1996, 2010
__________________
"No matter what you have done up to this moment, you get 24 brand-new hours to spend every single day." --Brian Tracy
AA gives us an opportunity to recreate ourselves, with God's help, one day at a time. --Rufus K.
When you get to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on. --Franklin D. Roosevelt
We stay sober and clean together - one day at a time!
God says that each of us is worth loving.
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